Many modern electronic systems specify some form of power conversion and rely on one or more batteries for power. The batteries are recharged, for example, by connecting the system to a power source (e.g., an alternating current (AC) power outlet) via a power adapter and cable.
A voltage regulator may provide a power supply rail from a battery. The voltage regulator increasingly has to service multiple subsystems (e.g., loads) in electronic devices. These subsystems may have different power supply voltage specifications and load current specifications. The power delivery capability of the voltage regulator, however, is limited by the power available from the battery. Under certain conditions, the voltage regulator may not be able to provide sufficient power to meet all the demands of all the subsystems. When load currents of multiple subsystems increase, the power supply voltage at the output of the regulator (VOUT) may droop, causing one or more subsystems to fail.